Market Credit CSA Model - What is it exactly?

Our CSA is a little different from the traditional model of Community Supported Agriculture. We think the Market Credit model we use is more flexible and powerful — one where everyone benefits: the customers, the farm, and our vendor partners.

How does the Market Credit model work in a CSA?

First off: What is a CSA? It's a relationship. Community Supported Agriculture allows buyers to financially support their farmer before they receive the harvest. The buyer's pre-season investment gives the farmer a budget to spend on producing food. Because of this, the farmer avoids taking out loans for seeds, payroll, and rent or mortgage.

Once the harvest begins, traditional CSAs have the farmer sending boxes of produce to member buyers on a regular schedule. Most find it fun — at first.

Because you are linked so closely to one farmer's harvest, it can feel wonderful, almost like living on a farm: you have direct access to the bounty of Oregon's rich growing season.

But it can also mean taking in an overwhelming amount of food you didn't choose yourself. You may receive produce you've never heard of or aren't sure how to prepare. You may find yourself scrambling to store more than your family can eat.

That leaves you wondering if there's a better way — since it's a shame to end up with more stress and waste when all you were trying to do was eat better.

Solution: A customizable, full-diet Full Farm CSA membership using the Market Credit model.

The Market Credit model works differently. We collect your payment every 30 days, year-round. That payment becomes your balance to spend in our online market.

That steady income helps us plan with confidence. We feel comfortable spending on routine farming needs as well as the unexpected, because we know we have committed customers who will keep shopping with us.

Our customers benefit too, because we don't send out mystery boxes of whatever we happen to produce. You choose the items that suit your needs.

The selection at Full Farm broad: pork, beef, lamb, chicken, turkey, eggs, raw dairy, fruit, vegetables, canned goods, baked goods, and dry goods (flour, beans, pasta), plus personal care products — all grown and produced within 100 miles of our farm.

• No fees — just a commitment to shop with us.

• No overwhelm — buy only what you want.

• Flexibility — we don't deliver if you don't order. Your balance stays in your account until you're ready to spend it.

• Delivery — we drop orders at sites and homes throughout the Willamette Valley: Portland, Oregon City, Lake Oswego, Salem, Corvallis, Junction City, Coburg, Eugene, and Springfield.

The variety in our store rivals most local health food stores and the selection is actually locally produced — and all it takes is placing an order online.